Avoid “Freebie Shows” – a type of jewelry show I’ve made the mistake of participating in!
Think twice if you’re invited to participate in shows that mainly promote “free stuff” for people who attend. Usually these events are marketed in such a way that the people who come are not planning to shop or spend any money – and often they don’t bring checkbooks or credit cards.
“Freebie shows” can be extremely disappointing venues for trying to sell your jewelry!
A few years ago I was invited to set up my booth at a show that was targeting women’s interests. It was the first time this show had been done, and thank goodness there was no booth fee.
The person who invited me to participate in this show said, “I think you’ll do really well – there will be lots of women wanting to shop and buy jewelry.”
However, I later found out that the show organizers were promoting this event as having “free samples! free health screenings! free gifts!”
A lot of women wound up coming to this event, all right – but naturally they came with the sole intention of getting lots of free stuff, because that’s how the show had been promoted.
They walked around filling their free tote bags with free pens, free brochures, free product samples, etc. from other booths – and many were disappointed to discover that my booth was NOT offering free jewelry.
I did wind up selling a few inexpensive pieces of jewelry that day, but all of my customers were other vendors!
By the time I factored in the time and expense of preparing for the event, driving there and back, and setting up and taking down my booth – it was a bust for me.
Now whenever I’m invited to set up my booth at an event, I always question the organizer closely to be sure I’m not agreeing to participate in what I’ve come to think of as a “freebie show”!
